Types of reproduction of the population

Types of reproduction of the population changed with the development of human civilization. Specialists identified three main stages through which society passed: the stage of appropriating economy, agrarian and industrial. In this regard, classify and types of reproduction of the population.

Archetype is typical for several tens of thousands of years since the beginning of the development of human history. This first type of reproduction of the population arose even in conditions of domination of the economy (hunting, gathering, fishing). A characteristic feature was the high dependence of people on their surrounding nature.

That primitive period was characterized by a small number and low rates of population growth . Gradually appropriating the economy passed to the producing (agrarian) - cattle breeding and agriculture began to develop. This period is called the "Neolithic revolution". Thus, there were prerequisites for the development of the next type.

There was a second type of reproduction of the population for several millennia. This period was characterized by almost absolute dominance of the agrarian economy. The main indicators at this stage were the high birth and death rates. At the same time, which is characteristic, the latter at that time overlapped the first, which eventually led to a low increase in the population. According to demographers, the main regulator then was mortality, which in some ways stimulated fertility. Other types of population reproduction are characterized by other mechanisms of growth.

A turning point in the development of the overall economy of the society was the era of industrial revolutions of the 18-19th centuries. As is known, industrial revolutions began in the countries of Europe, and by the 20th century they have swept all states in the world. During this period, a modern type of population reproduction began to take shape.

A new stage in the development of society is characterized by a direction towards the formation of an entirely different demographic situation, the use of completely different mechanisms.

The person became less dependent on nature, healthcare achieved significant success, the overall standard of living increased - all this resulted in a marked reduction in mortality, an increase in life expectancy (on average). These factors led to an increase in natural growth.

Important features that other types of population reproduction did not possess, at a new stage, one should consider the considerable flexibility and activity of demographic relations ensuring the freedom of family choice. At the same time, there is a significant increase in efficiency, controllability in this period. Specialists in this connection call the modern type of reproduction a rational type.

All processes of a demographic nature require in-depth study and then interpretation. In the course of their study, concepts of the demographic transition and the revolution appeared. In some sources, these definitions are regarded as equivalent. In others, the demographic revolution is characterized as the completion of the transition. In such cases, there are three revolutions in human history: the Neolithic, the period of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the epoch of the second half of the 20th century.

Each demographic revolution corresponds to the transition to a new type of reproduction of the population. Such scientifically substantiated interpretation of the change of stages created the prerequisites for the development of the transition theory. The main task at the same time is to explain the nature of the changes and sequence in the structure of the process of mortality, fertility, natural population growth, as well as evaluation of long-term trends.